Shaham's strong resume

October 24, 2013 12:01 AM

October 24, 2013 12:01 AM

Busy violinist Gil Shaham, 42, a son of scientists, will play with 20 orchestras on three continents in the 2013-14 season, including gigs with the Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, and Vienna Philharmonic.

He turned heads, at age 18, by replacing an ailing Itzhak Perlman for a London Symphony Orchestra concert of Bruch and Sibelius concertos.

"I got a call from my agency, ICM Artists, 'Do you think you can hop on the Concorde and fly to London?' It was really like a dream, something out of the movies," he told Strings in 1999. "Here I was, a high-school kid, with the option of going to English class or to London. It was very exciting."